Archive for January, 2014

Social media giant Facebook has rolled out a change to how its newsfeed and sharing system works and, in a surprising development, users actually seem to like it. Several “share this if you like the Facebook changes” memes have popped up and spread widely across the social network. Bloggers are generally very positive in their comments about the change, and it’s hard to find anyone saying anything negative.

“I really like it,” says tech blogger Howard Freeman. “The UI change is clean and intuitive, it’s easier to find the stuff you want to see, and it just plain looks nicer. I’m seeing exactly what I want in the newsfeed, and my posts are being shared with exactly who I want to see them. I was skeptical at first, but they’ve really nailed it this time.”

Privacy groups went over the changes with a fine tooth comb. “We expected to see ridiculous opt-out changes that seriously impacted your ability to control who sees information about you,” says EFF spokesperson Wendy Smith. “Instead they made changes that even the most casual users were well-informed about and realised were exactly what they wanted. More control, more options, and it’s trivially easy to adjust the settings – although honestly, they’ve automatically changed to a setting which is exactly what every user wanted. It’s a big win for everyone who uses Facebook.”

Facebook programmer Cody Williams was taken aback by the response when the changes were rolled out this week. “We expected people to rant against these changes, start boycotts, and all that sort of stuff. I like the changes myself, but I can see that changing what people are comfortable with can cause some difficulties. I thought users would complain about the way all the controls moved around, the completely different menu system, the comment system, and the new graphic design. However, reaction seems to be good – everyone I’ve heard from appreciates the same improvements that I do.”

Even hard-core tech critic Samantha Bourne struggled to find anything to criticise in the changes. “Look, I think that thin line under the new menu bar is just a shade too blue. That’s all I have to say. Excuse me, I need to share something with my Facebook contacts.”